Annabelle Robertson is an attorney, author & former award-winning journalist.
Born in Fayetteville, N.C., she graduated from high school in Raleigh then joined her parents in Switzerland, where she completed a French Baccalaureate in Philosophy and a 4-year degree from the University of Geneva School of Law. After her thesis, she interned at the United Nations in Geneva and joined Bank of America as corporate counsel, followed by Adia International, a Swiss multinational with 150+ companies in 38 countries, including Manpower USA.
In 1997, Annabelle completed a Master of Divinity in outreach & community development in Vancouver, Canada. She moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and volunteered for a homeless shelter, doing racial reconciliation & outreach while working full-time as a paralegal, to support her spouse. As a USAF chaplain's wife, she then accompanied him on military assignments. She worked as a freelance journalist and published her first book in 2006.
In 2008, Annabelle moved to South Carolina with her daughters, ages 2 and 5, where she wrote a front-page column for The Sumter Item, edited IRIS Magazine and became managing editor of The Clarendon Sun. She completed a LLM and was licensed to practice law in California. To stay in South Carolina, however, Annabelle had to complete a JD--which she did, as a single mom, full time at the University of South Carolina School of Law, while also running a long-distance law firm and litigating post-divorce family matters against her ex. During her studies, she became a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem and received both the prestigious CALI Award and the John O. McDougall Award for excellence in Family Law.
In 2018, Annabelle ran for Congress. In her progressive bid to unseat Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), she beat two male opponents and won the Democratic primary with 42% of the vote, but lost the mandatory runoff (to the second-place finisher) by just 714 votes. He lost the general election--easily handing Rep. Wilson his 10th consecutive term in Congress.
Annabelle officially opened her South Carolina practice in June. Her former campaign slogan--"Fighting for Working Families"--as the motto of her new law firm.